1 Syria fighting: The battle for Syria's second-largest airport intensified Saturday as government troops tried to reverse recent gains the rebels have made in their quest to topple President Bashar Assad, activists in contact with the rebels said. Assad's forces have been locked in a stalemate with rebels in Aleppo since July. Also Saturday, the army began an offensive on opposition strongholds outside Damascus in an effort to dislodge rebels from areas around the capital.

2Military warning: North Korea warned the top American commander in South Korea on Saturday of "miserable destruction" if the U.S. military presses ahead with routine drills set to begin next month. The warning was sent to Gen. James Thurman, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said, in a rare direct message to the U.S. commander. The threat comes as the United States and other nations discuss how to punish North Korea for conducting an underground nuclear test on Feb. 12 in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

3 Fraud probe: Protesters in Spain jeered King Juan Carlos' son-in-law before he was questioned Saturday by a judge about allegations he and a partner funneled millions of euros through fraudulent deals. The probe has embarrassed the monarchy in a country hard hit by the financial crisis. Iñaki Urdangarin, who has denied wrongdoing, made his way into a courthouse in Palma de Mallorca, where 170 officers kept hundreds of protesters away from the building.

5 Horse meat scandal: France will press all of Europe to impose strict labeling rules on the meat inside prepared foods to restore confidence that has been shaken by a widening scandal on horse meat that was mislabeled and cooked into frozen dinners, President François Hollande said Saturday. Horse meat has turned up across Europe in frozen supermarket meals and in restaurants, schools and hospitals.

4 Bird flu: China has reported a second fatality from the deadly H5N1 bird flu, a 31-year-old man who died in the city of Guiyang. The flu, which is circulated in poultry and birds, has infected only 600 humans in the past decade, but has proved fatal in half the cases. Scientists fear it could mutate into a form that is highly contagious in humans. The Xinhua News Agency said both victims had been in close contact with birds, a common means of transmission.